By Ralph Barnett

THE PARENTS of a young motorcyclist who died when his machine was involved in a collision with a car on the A9128 near Monikie on Sunday afternoon yesterday spoke of their shock at the loss of “a precious and much-loved” son.

Peter Dundas (23), who lived with his parents Roland and Carla and his partner Nikki Richardson in Lowson Avenue, Carnoustie, sustained fatal injuries as he was heading for home after a run around Angus with a friend.

His father Roland, a motor- cyclist himself, said, “Peter was just a typical young lad who had always been interested in bikes and had been running around on them for the past two or three years.

“As far as the accident itself is concerned, we only know as much as the police have told us and they are still in the process of carrying out their own investigations and waiting for the results of a post-mortem, which has been delayed, we understand, because of the bank holiday.”

Mr Dundas said Peter and his pal had been up Forfar way and were on their way home when the collision occurred.

“Like all of us, the lad he was out with is really shocked and upset and we’ll all just have to rely on each other to get us through this,” he said

Carla said it was several hours after the tragedy that they became aware of the accident as they had been on a day trip to St Andrews with her parents.

She said, “We didn’t get home until about six o’clock and there was a card through the door saying the police needed to speak to us.

“When we got in touch with them it was just so numbing and, even now, it still hasn’t sunk in that our precious and much-loved son won’t be coming home.

“We were taken through to the police mortuary in Dundee to identify him and say goodbye but it’s a very difficult thing to come to terms with.”

Peter was educated at Panbride Primary School and Carnoustie High School and worked at Co-op Farms packing fruit and vegetables.

Carla said, “When he wasn’t at his work or spending time with Nikki—she works as a housekeeper at the Carnoustie Golf Course Hotel and they’ve been together for a couple of years and were looking for their own place to set up home— the bikes were his greatest passion, and Nikki went out on the back quite a lot as well.

“He also loved animals and kept lizards and hamsters and used to be quite into radio-controlled cars as well.

“Bikes were in his blood because Roland is a keen motorcyclist, his big sister Jane has just done her Compulsory Basic Training with a view to getting her full licence and Jane’s partner Allan is also into bikes.

“Even when Peter was really little and still in his pram we couldn’t walk past a bike parked at the side of the road without stopping so he could get a proper look at it. It was just something that he was always interested in and I suppose it is some small consolation that he died doing something that meant so much to him.”

Roland said, “Peter bought his current bike—a Honda VFR400 NC30—just about a year ago from Jane’s partner Allan and he loved it.

“He went out riding with Allan quite a lot and, by all accounts, he was a good and safe rider who knew what he was doing and didn’t take unnecessary risks.

“According to what the police have told us, there is no suggestion Peter was speeding at the time of the accident so we’ll just have to wait and see what their investigation produces.

“In the meantime we’ll just have to stay strong. He was greatly loved by everyone and knew it and we are all going to miss him so much.”